Scottish Export could be easy and at least more malty than hoppy. Not sure about strong though.

My gut says "Wee Heavy".

Are you an all-grain beginner or extract beginner? Extract you can start with anything, really. All-grain, you only have to worry about your base grain, 2 or 3 specialties, and one hop addition if you go Wee Heavy.

I did a brown ale for my 1st. It was moderately strong: 5.8% abv due to the pound of honey, pound of brown sugar, and 1/3 gallon of maple syrup I added. Came out much better than I expected for my 1st try. It was an extract with some specialty grains so just about as easy as it comes. Only thing I didn't like were the willamette hops I used, I little too mild/fruity for my taste.